


Escape to the Arcade

by SunnyD_lite



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, tamingthemuse, thetrio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-26
Updated: 2010-03-26
Packaged: 2017-10-08 08:31:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/74665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunnyD_lite/pseuds/SunnyD_lite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Living as super villains has its downsides. Jonathon wants an afternoon's escape.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Escape to the Arcade

**Author's Note:**

> A MUD is a Multiple User Dungeon or Dimension, aka an online gaming universe. Bunches of thanks to **spiralleds** who did a super fast betaing job. Then I did a fairly large revision. All errors are, therefore, my own.  
> **Disclaimers:** I don't own Jonathon, any of the games mentioned or the rights to Slurpees. I'd be a much richer person if I did.   
> Written for tamingthemuse prompt Arcade

Doug held up the bill to the light, and then glared at Jonathon. "How do I know it's real?"

"Oh it's real, got it straight from the bank." Jonathon rushed through that statement even though it was one hundred percent correct. Not a word of a lie.

"Hmph," was Doug's response.

It had seemed like such a great idea; it had been something he'd dreamed of. But, as he saw Doug pile the ten rolls of quarters in exchange for the hundred dollar bill, he wondered how he would even carry them to the Star Fighter machine.

Good thing he'd decided to start with just one of the bills he had in his Spiderman wallet.

Despite the awkwardness of juggling the rolls, it felt great to be away from the other two for a few hours. When Warren had proposed the idea of taking over Sunnydale, it had felt like their gaming scenarios come to life. Less dice, but the same idea. Get some money, create some nifty weapons, and see naked girls. He hadn't realized the game wouldn't break; that the three of them would end up living together; and in Warren's basement too. They were criminal masterminds; why didn't they have their own lair? Lex never had to deal with parents telling him to be quiet.

He stood the rolls on their flat end, managing to catch the third one as it started to slide off the slanted console. Maybe he should have brought a bucket like they have at casinos. Hey, he could have gone to a casino! They'd conjured up the fake ids a couple of nights ago. He could be in Vegas!

He tried to picture the three of them on the strip, part of the Ocean's Eleven crew. Nope. He was able to accept the fact that they hired demons, but even that wasn't strange enough to prepare him to imagine Andrew with any form of coolness.

"Hey are you planning on playing that game or just staring at it, Shortie? Did you forget your footstool?"

Jonathon turned to see two tall shapes flanking him. It was a Tuesday afternoon; what were jocks doing at the arcade? Oh, he knew they hung out here, but generally after drinking on a dateless Saturday night. Maybe they were cutting class?

"Are you deaf as well as short? Move it!" The slightly smaller of the two pushed towards the game, about to shove him out of the way.

"No."

Did that just come out of his mouth? Maybe hanging out with Dictator-for-Life Warren had rubbed off.

Obviously he hadn't channeled Warren properly, as the two just keep on. In fact, as an added touch, the taller one swept the rolled money onto the floor. He caught the look for approval the taller one shot to the other, his tension relaxing when his friend chuckled.

Nice to know even the jocks had to worry about social standing. Didn't help him with the money now rolling across the sticky floor. As he scrambled to catch the rolls before they went under anything, he was just thankful that he hadn't opened any yet. Even more thankful that none had broken. Maybe luck was running his way.

In junior high, he'd thought there'd be nothing more perfect than being able to stay forever in the arcade. Endless quarters, a big Slurpee, and no curfew. A few of the games had changed, but why not realize a dream? He already had the original Boba Fett action figure, time for another childhood wish.

But he wasn't excited. Shouldn't he be excited?

He walked up to the X-Men vs. Street Fighter machine, kinda wishing he did have a small step or something. Hmm, should he play Wolverine? But Nightcrawler could bamf out of trouble; that was a useful skill. Or he could swap in Cyclopes. After carefully tearing open a roll, he began feeding quarters into the slot. Maybe he could call someone to play with him? He had enough quarters.

There was no one he could call. After he'd done that superstar spell thing, he thought Buffy might be a friend. Or at least someone who acknowledged he was there. And she did, or she had. He heard that her mom had died and she was looking after her little sister.

He was glad he hadn't mentioned Dawn to Warren. He'd probably be in favor of kidnapping. Jonathon still couldn't believe how quickly Warren had turned to killing as a solution. Super-villains didn't kill. They just didn't. Unless they were the Joker, but he was just insane. Was Warren?

He'd played this game too many times. He didn't even need to pay much attention to duck Ken's Flaming Dragon punch, and he knew that Rhy's fireball would follow. He countered with Cyclopes blasting it out of the sky. When had he thought this was fun?

It wasn't like he'd hung out with Warren, or Andrew, in high school. They'd kinda fallen together after always bumping into each other at the comic and gaming shop. Sometimes it was nice to go to a game instead of play in an online MUD.

And when he'd mentioned magic, they hadn't baulked. Instead Andrew got all braggy about his demon summoning skills. Then Warren had amazed them both with his story of the sex-bots.

They really were geeks, weren't they? Look at him, his big dream was action figures and uninterrupted arcade time. He hadn't even gotten his blue Slurpee. Shouldn't he be dreaming bigger? Warren had so many ideas, but sometimes he was just mean. Kinda like Clark on red kryptonite. The Freeze Ray had sounded great; but they hadn't tested it and then he was the one partially iced. It had taken ages to thaw and his hand still felt a little tingly.

They weren't just playing games anymore. They'd completely frozen that guard. He was still in the hospital, even if the doctors had thawed him with hair dryers.

Watching his avatars die, he decided to try another game. Jonathan walked past the golf game no one ever played. Maybe the arcade had gotten a deal on it? He could almost see the dust on the screen. He felt too shaky to try the snowboarding game where you stood on the board to make it move. A driving game; he could sit down and not worry about stretching to reach the top controls.

Plus he could stay under the jocks radar a little longer. Would he always be at the mercy of guys who were bigger than he was? He thought things would change after high school.

In comics you never saw the collateral damage: what happened to the people the buildings fell on or who were hit by the tossed cars. Well, not unless the heroes swooped in to save them.

Buffy hadn't been at the museum. Buffy had been at the bank and it worked as an even better distraction. But after watching Buffy during their tests, he'd felt bad. She'd always been so strong and always knew what to do. She'd saved him so often in high school, it didn't seem right to kick her while she was down. Even if in fact she'd been the one kicking him when he was disguised as a demon.

He squirmed a little in plastic, not-so-form-fitting car seat. She'd been hanging out with Spike lately. He was the one who'd taken over the school that night. And she was still talking to him. Jonathon hadn't done anything _that_ bad yet, despite Warren wanting to. Maybe he could confess to her.

The arcade had two linked Daytona USA games, but he was the only one playing. He ignored the three empty seats. The stack of quarters was ready so he could add them without taking his hand from the gearshift for long. Hands at two and ten and watching the road, the track, and the other cars. Again, this game was more fun when you were with somebody instead of playing the machine. Could he have asked Andrew? Shouldn't he have more friends than ones he shared a felony with? The three of them didn't even game anymore.

But they hadn't seen the chicks yet. That had been a major incentive. Since the paragon spell he hadn't seen any naked girls--well not live, he could find internet porn--and he could barely remember anything about the twins. Warren was working on the invisibility ray. He'd see some naked girls, then he'd quit. Taking over a town just wasn't fun when he couldn't tell anyone.

He didn't want to hurt people. He'd see the naked girls, then take his share of the money. And maybe he'd head to Vegas. But first he'd pay for the guard's hospital bills. That seemed fair. Nodding to himself, Jonathon focused on the driving game. Part of being a good Dungeon Master was knowing when to end the game. He'd give himself this one last task, then quit. Those who ran away; lived to fight another day. It worked for gaming. He hoped it would work here. Meanwhile, he had quarters to use.


End file.
